1. The Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with improvements in and relating to investigations of radioactivity, particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to measurement of activity and/or the quantity of radioactive material present at one or more locations.
2. The Relevant Technology
Techniques are known for investigating environments to map the locations of radioactive emitters and/or identify the radioactive emitters present within the environment. In basic terms the information provided to the operator indicates the emissions detected by the detection instrument. Whilst this is informative in many cases, it is desirable to be able to estimate the actual quantity of radioactive material present at locations within the environment. This may be expressed as a mass or more normally in terms of an activity at a location. To be able to achieve this, the emissions emitted must be determined rather than relying on a measurement of the emissions. Intervening effects on the emissions between emission and detection are not generally quantified in existing techniques, particularly in the widely varying environments and circumstances encountered by survey instruments.